Which Weasley
by jessebelle
Summary: After a traumatizing incident, Hermione's in danger. To make matters worst, the Marriage Law has been enacted. Mrs. Weasley offers up her sons to be wed, but Which Weasley will she choose? A story filled with drama, humor, and lots of Weasley lovin'.
1. The Rescue

Which Weasley

By jessebelle

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter do you really think I'd be posting this as fanfiction? The wonderful honor belongs to JK Rowling.

A/N: Hey everyone. At the moment I have so many stories going, only three I'm actively updating and many unfinished, but this plot idea has settled itself in my brain and just won't leave: the result; new story. I hope to update this one as frequently as possible. Luckily the plot is pretty much worked out and I have a huge idea on where it's going, I've even mapped out the chapters. I want to make it clear that this story is definitely AU. I'm choosing to ignore parts of OotP and HBP definitely didn't happen. Sirius is alive, the Order is still at Grimmauld Place, and the Prophecy doesn't really come into play at all. So keep this in mind before you review with complaints about it not being canon. If you have any questions, just ask and I'll be happy to answer them.

Now, without further adieu, let's get this story rolling.

Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle

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Chapter One: The Rescue

Hermione Granger stared up at the ceiling of the Hospital Wing. She didn't blink, she didn't cry; she just stared. Her life had taken one of those funny turns, one of those turns that left you dizzy, sick, and utterly confused. She'd gotten past the dizzy part as she'd been carried out of the still burning house. Sickness had claimed her, along with her injuries during the fight and now she was at confused heading straight towards blankness. The quiet in her head scared her; she'd never been blank before, always thinking, her mind always racing. But now...now there was silence. She could barely bring herself to even acknowledge it even happened, let alone think about it. It was all too surreal. But not acknowledging it didn't mean she didn't know what happened, because as soon as she closed her eyes, she'd experience it again.

"Hermione, are you okay?" She heard the voice, but didn't respond. She'd heard many voices lately, but never responded. This one was familiar; she couldn't place it though she'd heard it frequently.

"I know you can hear me, so I'm just going to talk. I know you're in shock right now, but-"

Shock, was that what this was? It sounded…fitting. It reminded her of an electric spark, a flash of light…a fire of flames.

_Oh, it was hot, so very hot. She could barely breathe. Where were they? Where were her parents? "Mum? Daddy?" No proud, loving voices answered, but instead a cool, amused voice answered her calls._

"_Come out, come out wherever you are! I know you're here, you filthy little mudblood." She knew that voice, knew the danger, but she wasn't leaving until she found-_

"_Your parents are dead, you know. Your mother, well, she was a screamer. You wouldn't know that, though. Silencing charms are a wonderful thing. Your father, now he was clever. You don't suppose he liked his examination? I wonder… if he was still alive, do you think he'd still play, what was it, oh yes, dentist. After all, he knows the pain his little tools can cause now. Of course, that may be why he started the fire, didn't want you to have your checkup. But I think he forgot we we're magic, my dear. The flames won't spread unless I let them, which won't happen until you're broken on the ground and I'm gone, leaving you to burn in the fire your father started. Which means… in a roundabout way, your death is his fault. He knows this, you know; I told him right before he died. The horror on his face, it was...intoxicating. Now, my dear, I know you're out there, and I know you're hiding, but at least have the decency to face me with the Gryffindor courage I know you have." The door of the closet she'd been hiding in had been ripped open and He'd been standing there, looking down at her with an evil grin and those eyes…those grey soulless eyes. "My dear, Hermione-"_

"Hermione….HERMIONE!"

It was then that she was brought out of her flashback. That wasn't fair; she hadn't even been asleep yet. Opening her eyes she found her view of the white ceiling blocked by a face; two bright blue eyes, freckles, red hair…Weasley.

She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud until the face grinned at her, or at least she saw a blur of white, which, she assumed were teeth. "Of course, what gave it away? Was it my handsome physique or the devilish face? I know, it's the nose, family trait…always gives us away. But the real question is which Weasley, eh Hermione? There are quite a few of us now, aren't there?"

She felt an unfamiliar feeling bubble inside of her, one she couldn't stop. She watched the smug face above her change to confusion, then worry. "Hermione?" Her feeling bubbled over and out, and now she was doing something she couldn't control…she was laughing.

The Weasley above her watched as the broken girl on the bed began to laugh. The sound shocked him at first; she'd been silent for over a week since the attack. He smiled when he realized he'd been the one to break her silence, to make her laugh, but his smile quickly dropped as her laughter changed to sobs. It was instinct to grab her, to hold her as she finally cried. Everyone had been terrified that she'd been holding it in and now all her pain, all her fear, all her sadness erupted like a volcano. It was heart wrenching to watch, but he didn't leave. Rubbing her back in comforting circles, he whispered words of comfort as her body shook with gut wrenching sobs, then she became still. It nearly made him jump when the small voice came from his chest.

"Why? Why me?" He pondered her question for a while before giving her an honest answer.

"I don't know." But when he looked down, she was asleep.

He didn't move her except to make them both more comfortable; she didn't stir. He hadn't the heart to wake her; he knew she needed the sleep. In a few hours the whimpering would start, then the screams, and after that came the most frightening thing of all…the silence. He'd been there for quite a few of her nightmares, and even it you were expecting it, it chilled you to the bone.

The sound of a door opening made him look to the right where his brothers had entered. "Any change?" His second eldest brother looked to where Hermione lay in his arms.

He cleared his throat. "You could say that."

"Well?" His twin was lacking in the patience area.

He knew he was the same. "I got her to laugh, I got her to cry, I got her to talk…even if it was only a few words."

He watched as his eldest brother gave him a nod. "Good, I've been worrying about her." He didn't doubt that. Bill had been the one to find her, to take on her attacker. He himself had been second to arrive and he'd been scared by the intensity in his brother's dueling; then he'd seen Hermione. It had taken all his willpower not to join Bill in the fight with the monster that had hurt her, tortured her. But he'd realized she needed help, so he'd done his best to carefully transport her back to headquarters. He'd carried her outside and was just ready to apparate when Charlie had come out of the burning house, stopping him. Being around dragons, his brother knew how dangerous it was to move a person with serious injuries without hurting them further. They'd laid her out on the lawn then, and his brother had run a diagnostic spell. Thankfully she could be moved, but her injuries were bad. That had been when Fred came out of the house, carrying Bill. His twin had been struggling with their eldest brother, so Charlie had gone to help. He'd just picked up Hermione and was about to apparate when the windows in the house blew. Hearing the sirens he'd decided to go ahead.

The sight that met them back at headquarters was one he wouldn't forget any time soon. There had been an order meeting that night when the alert had gone up on Hermione's house. Due to her status as muggleborn and Harry's best friend, the headmaster had placed a few alarms. This one meant magic had been performed. He and his brothers had volunteered to check things out. They hadn't expected the fire, or Malfoy. That smug bastard had been the one who organized the attack.

The order meeting was still in session when he arrived in the kitchen, his brothers right behind him and Hermione in his arms. The sight of them had caused a panic and it wasn't until Dumbledore had yelled that they'd settled.

"QUIET!" The room had instantly silenced. Dumbledore nodded then turned to them. "Is that?"

"Hermione? Yes, She was attacked, Malfoy. Her parents were tortured and killed, the house is still burning. We left just as the muggle firemen were coming." Charlie answered for him.

"Place her on the table, George."

He waited until the table was cleared. Due to panic, everyone had forgotten they had the use of magic. The table was cleared with a swipe of several arms causing a loud clatter as the food and the dishes fell to the floor. George didn't hesitate to carefully lay her down. He ignored the bustle around him as he concentrated on his little brother's best friend, the know-it-all bookworm that frequently got him in trouble as a student. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew his twin was there, offering comfort. The rest of the night passed in a blur for him. He dimly recalled seeing Madam Pomfrey; he knew she worked on Hermione, him, and his brothers. Apparently they'd been injured by the fire and Bill had gotten hurt dueling Malfoy. He recalled the Order panicking, especially those that knew Hermione, then it was a blur of colors and sound. The next morning he'd woken up in a hospital bed, Bill had been two beds down and Hermione was between them.

He was brought out of his reverie by his twin calling his name. "George. George!"

"What?" He looked up. They weren't actually yelling, not wanting to wake up the girl in his arms, but the whispers they shared were fierce.

"Finally back with us on Earth."

George just looked up at his brothers and sighed dejectedly. "Memories."

Nothing more had to be said. All of them had suffered that night. It was the first time they'd really been faced with death, loss, and fear. Though the war had been going on for a few years now, and even though they'd joined the order a while ago, they'd been shielded by the older members and their parents from the true horrors of what was going on. They didn't expect danger when they went to check on Hermione. Mainly they'd been bored and wanted to get out of the meeting early, possibly see where their little brother's best friend lived so they could tease her about it later. Instead they were thrown headfirst into a horror scene, featuring someone they knew, someone who was close to their family. Though the elder Weasleys barely knew her, Hermione Granger was an adopted Weasley, someone their brother cared about, and if anything, a women who had needed rescuing from the torture of Malfoy.

"I hope she wakes up soon, I'd like to get to know her before I go, make sure she's okay and everything." As one, all the present Weasleys turned to Bill.

"Where are you going?" Fred gave his 'cool' brother a questioning look.

Bill stuck his hands in his pocket and tried to look anywhere but at them. "Dumbledore wants me to go back to work for Gringotts in Egypt. Apparently I can do some good there, maybe recruit for the Order."

"So you're just going to leave again?"

Bill sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I'm doing no good just hanging around here."

"You got Malfoy!"

Their eldest brother's face darkened at the mention of Hermione's torturer. "Yeah, that I did. But I'm needed elsewhere now. I kinda liked being home, though. I don't know why but for some crazy reason I do miss you guys when I'm gone."

"I know, weird, ain't it?" Charlie shared a look with his elder brother, then turned to the twins. "It's not just him that's leaving. Dumbledore asked me to go back to Romania, too."

The twins shared a look, then nodded. "Fine." "Okay." But it was clear by their identical frowns that neither were happy about it. Charlie and Fred both moved to one of the other beds and sat down, facing Hermione and George, Bill just walked closer to their bed, sat down in a chair, and held Hermione's hand. The group was silent until Hermione began to stir.

It started out as a whimper, a deep whine…then she began to talk. "No, please, no."

The horror on her face was clear. She began to move in George's arms, like she was fighting his hold. Quickly realizing what was happening, he loosened his hold, then looked up to Bill's face. They'd heard her screams over the torture. Malfoy had apparently cursed her then moved onto muggle means. Hermione had been a mess when they found her. Almost all of her wounds were healed, now, and all that remained were a few scars. However, they'd also found her in a state that made them suspect Malfoy had had his way with her. This was the first time they could confirm it.

Her pleading continued until Bill couldn't take it anymore. Standing up, he leaned down and scooped her up into his arms. She struggled, at first, but as he began to rock her, to comfort her, her pleas and struggles slowed to a stop. Finally all was quiet, but the boys could still hear her pleas in their heads, and it broke their hearts. It was Fred who thankfully broke the silence.

"So when do you two leave?"

The elder Weasleys shared a look, before Charlie answered softly while Bill examined the girl in his arms. "Two days."

"Two Days?!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Mum must be-"

"Furious!" The twins spoke in their usual way, finishing each other's sentences.

Bill just continued his examination of Hermione, noticing the healing scars. Charlie nodded. "I know; we're not thrilled about it either."

"So what are you going to do until then?" George climbed off the bed he'd been sitting on and moved to the chair next to Bill and Hermione, gently taking her hand.

Bill just sighed. "Wait I guess. Hopefully you made some progress today and we'll get to know her and see that spark that makes her so different, so wonderful."

Charlie nodded in agreement. "I know; everyone in the Order has nothing but nice things to say about her. Even Snape admitted her intelligence was astounding."

"Really?" Both twins looked skeptically at the dragon worker.

Charlie grinned sheepishly. "Okay, maybe he didn't say exactly that, but he admitted she had _talent_ and even if she was an overbearing know-it-all she could brew a decent potion."

"Now that sounds more like the greasy git." Fred was grinning madly.

"Yeah, but coming from him its high praise." Everyone there was in agreement.

There was a bit more silence before George broke it impatiently. "So we just wait?" He rubbed Hermione's hand with his thumb, comfortingly. The mood, again, turned somber. Bill began to run his fingers through Hermione's hair. Then he sighed in resolution. "Yeah…we wait."

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Author's Note: Okay, there's the first chapter. A wee bit angsty, but it'll lighten up quite a bit in the future. Now, I can't promise frequent updates because I have a problem with that:cough: hasn't updated her other stories in months:cough:, BUT, since this story is planned out more, it shouldn't be too long a wait between updates. Anywho, I hope you liked this and keep in mind, there'll be a lot of Weasley Love and humor later in.

Toodles,

jessebelle


	2. Recovery

Which Weasley

By jessebelle

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Chapter Two: Recovery

It was unfortunate that Bill's hopes weren't recognized. Both he and Charlie set off to Egypt and Romania respectively two days after their visit to Hermione in the hospital. Any progress George had made that day had been erased after her nightmare. However, now knowing she was aware of what went on around her and that she wasn't completely broken gave everyone new hope of her recovering from the accident. It was now three months later and after some intense therapy there was a significant improvement.

The attack had happened over Easter break. Hermione had been taken to Hogwarts, as school was still in session; but now it was June, school was ending, and she didn't know where she was to go. It was a definite dilemma, and it also reminded her that she was alone now that she didn't have a home to go to, or parents to take care of her…

"Hermione?" A voice broke through her depressing thoughts. Turning her head she took in the messy hair, glasses, and familiar scar: Harry. Three months ago she wouldn't have even realized he was there. Two months ago she would've ignored his presence and just turned over. A month ago she might've given him a sad smile or a small hello and let him do all the talking, but she'd made a lot of progress…she was better now.

"Yes Harry?" She gave him a smile, he looked a bit nervous.

"Um…well, I wanted to ask you something." He wasn't meeting her eyes and was playing with the sleeve of his robe. Yes, he was definitely nervous. Hermione got a bad feeling.

"Okay." She waited, but he didn't say anything. "Well?" He responded with a sheepish grin.

"Right, um…how did you think you did on your NEWTs?" Hermione knew that wasn't really his question, but answered nonetheless.

"Really well; not as good as I would've liked, but I did my best. I guess being a know-it-all and practically living in the library for the last six years made up for the time I missed, huh."

After the attack Hermione hadn't been able to attend normal classes; she still wasn't in fact. Instead, due to her intelligence and high promise, her teachers met up with her once a week to go over the material and collect her homework. She spent most of her time reading and was caught up with her classmates in no time, therefore she was able to sit for her NEWTs and graduate with her friends. Of everything that had been done for her, this meant the most. She'd put way too much effort into her studies for all of her hard work to go down the drain. It was hard enough losing the title of Head Girl; not being able to graduate would've killed her.

"That's certainly true, and I'm sure that even missing three months you still did better then anybody else. I think I did all right; not too sure about potions, but-"

He was interrupted by a loud 'bark.' Both teens looked toward the sound, and then watched in amusement as a large, black dog bounded into the hospital wing followed by a middle aged man holding a broken leash.

"Padfoot!" At the sound of his name, the dog gave another bark and jumped excitedly onto Hermione's bed. Harry and Remus watched as Hermione squealed in delight then began to laugh as the dog licked her face. Hermione herself was struggling not to wet herself. Padfoot's licks tickled horribly. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and called it to a halt.

"Sirius!" Instantly the dog began to change and within seconds there was a familiar man sprawled on the bed beside her, ankles crossed and arms behind his head. He had on a smile and looked completely comfortable lying on the bed next to her.

"Hello luv, how're we doing today?" Hermione, Harry, and Remus just stared at him before she broke into giggles. Sirius just gave the other two a confused look, "What did I do?" but after a pointed look from Remus he began to grin. Turning to his godson he nodded his head. "Hello Harry." Then all the men turned to watch Hermione laugh, a rare sight and one they all cherished. Unfortunately it didn't last as long as they'd hoped, but seeing the girl laugh, even for a moment, was worth galleons.

Hermione gasped for air as she tried to control herself. She didn't know why Sirius had been so funny, but he'd well and truly tickled her funny bone. She suspected, though, that half the laughter had been her body releasing some pent up stress since she refused to cry. When she was finally able to breathe again she noticed the men looking at her. She felt her face flush with embarrassment. Pretending that nothing happened, something she'd become a bit of an expert on, she turned expectantly to the man who was still lying beside her.

"Hello Sirius."

"All right then, Mione?" She knew he was referring to more then just her laughing fit. She nodded.

"I'll live." Relief flooded his face and was mirrored by the other man standing next to Harry. "Professor!" The older man grinned down on her.

"Hello, Hermione, but really, you needn't call me professor anymore; it's Remus, or Moony, if you prefer." She nodded sheepishly.

"All right, Remus. So what brings you two here today?" She was generally curious. After all, she hadn't seen the two properly since Christmas, before…everything. Next to her Sirius grinned flirtatiously.

"Why, to see your beautiful face of course." Hermione's eyebrows rose skeptically. She sincerely doubted that. She turned to Remus who put her curiosity out of its misery.

"We had a bit of order business with Dumbeldore. We figured we'd come by and see how you're doing. Both of us were awfully worried about you." She nodded knowingly; she'd suspected that was what it was.

"So any new news on the remaining death eaters' actions?'

She hadn't heard a thing in the Hospital Wing. She suspected visitors were told not to bring up any news because of her 'condition'. However, she'd rather know what was happening then be left in the dark. They didn't seem to realize that hearing any progress on the post Voldemort cleanup would only help ease her fears. Harry had defeated Voldemort the summer before their seventh year giving then all a bit of normalcy in their lives, until March that was. The remaining death eaters had been the ones who organized the attack on her home and it was solely Malfoy's fault her parents were dead. Of course, Malfoy hadn't been caught as the fire that had destroyed her life had also destroyed any evidence against him. While Bill had won the duel he'd managed to escape the flames and after retreating he'd done as he always had done; denied everything and made a considerable donation to the ministry, giving him more influence on Fudge then ever; a fact which frightened her horribly.

She watched as the two remaining Marauders exchanged glances before Remus answered her question.

"Nothing new I'm afraid. Fudge is still an idiot and the Ministry's still corrupt. No one is taking the Death Eater threat seriously now that Voldemort's defeated and until the Order can get a little more pull within the government, we just have to accept it."

Hermione took a deep breath and sighed. She'd known that before she'd asked. "You didn't answer my question." Another look was exchanged before Sirius tried a new tactic.

"Eh, let's get off this depressing topic, I've had enough of talk of Death Eaters to last me a while." Once again Hermione opened her mouth to question them, she knew her best chance at getting any information would be through the men before her, but it was Harry that intervened this time, diverting her thoughts to a place she'd been trying to ignore.

"So Hermione, have any plans for after Hogwarts?"

To a normal student on the cusp of graduation this wouldn't be too hard of a question, but to Hermione it brought deep thoughts she wanted to avoid.

She'd had plans, good plans. She was going to graduate with her friends, then spend the summer with her parents. Living away from them for the majority of the year and having magic as a barrier between them they'd grown further and further apart. She'd hoped to rebuild her relationship with them while at the same time continuing with her muggle education. Unbeknownst to her friends, she'd participated in a correspondence course working toward her muggle degree. She only had a few classes left.

She knew career wise that she needed to get a job and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. With her intelligence the Ministry had practically begged her to work for them, but she'd declined all their offers, instead choosing to take part in a double apprenticeship at Hogwarts in both potions and transfiguration. Though it had taken quite a bit of convincing, she'd managed to talk Professor Snape in agreeing to teach her while McGonagall had instantly agreed. Come September first she was supposed to return to Hogwarts to learn. But now…her plans were derailed.

She'd never get a chance to spend another summer at home, nor to even talk to her parents. She'd been told by McGonagall that her apprenticeship offer was still valid, but if she couldn't even attend classes as a student, then how was she supposed to teach. And now she didn't even have a place to live.

A cough brought her back to reality and she saw that Harry was still awaiting an answer. Rather then explaining everything, she shook her head and gave a simple. "No."

"So, you haven't talked to Molly about living at the Burrow?"

She shook her head negatively. Sirius' question brought up another unpleasant topic she'd been trying to avoid. While most of her visitors were friends from school, Mrs. Weasley had become a frequent presence in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, determined to help Hermione's recovery. While she hadn't asked Hermione's opinion yet, she knew that the matriarch had been making plans for her to come live with her family at the Burrow and coming up with ways to teach Hermione to be a proper housewitch. But, while she appreciated the thought and though it would solve her housing problem, she had no desire to live with the Weasley family for two reasons.

The first was that even though her plans were screwed up, or on hold, she'd had plans, and none of them included learning how to cook, clean, or become a housewife. Sure, she planned to get married and have kids some day, but she wanted a career first, something Molly didn't understand. Spending her days learning cleaning charms and ways to take care of a family wouldn't help her recover any faster, and they certainly wouldn't help her mental health.

The second reason she didn't want to stay at the Weasleys' was Ron. She wasn't stupid, far from it in fact, and had realized her best friend had feelings for her. She'd briefly shared those feelings too, when the having a boyfriend was a novel idea. But, she'd soon discovered it had been just her hormones and not attraction that had caused her to believe there was more between him and herself then there really was. In reality he was the farthest thing from her type. He was possessive; thinking he owned her, jealous; which just got on her nerves and spoke of the trust between them. He had zero manners, had yet to realize there was more out in the world the quidditch and Hogwarts, and while she wasn't saying he was stupid, his intelligence clashed horribly with her own. She needed a man who wouldn't feel threatened by her smarts, who would be able to challenge her, and someone who could trust and talk to, really talk to. She did love Ron, but like a brother, and it was unfortunately something he hadn't realized yet.

Of course after, everything, she knew things had changed. At first he'd ignored her. She didn't remember much in the early days after her accident but she did remember seeing a lot of redheads, none of them being Ron. Harry had explained that he'd come to see her right after the accident and the sight of her in the hospital wing, not talking and seriously injured, had shaken the redhead up quite a bit. She hadn't cared at the time, but after she'd begun to heal and thought about it, she'd been hurt. Harry, and everyone else who'd come to see her had been disturbed by the sight, but they'd still come to visit her. Then she'd begun responding and talking again. Ron had done a complete 180, visiting her constantly, being way too overprotective and treating her like a doll. All that had accomplished was to make her pissed off. Currently he was following Harry's advice, stopping down to visit after dinner most days to get help with homework, treating her normally and just hanging out like they used to. Of course, it helped that they weren't alone and that Harry, Ginny, Neville and her other friends came at that time too, making a relaxed atmosphere and acting as buffers between the two. The fact that the house elves sent food didn't hurt either.

These two things both spelled out awkwardness and she had no desire at all to purposefully encourage his feelings or deal with his mood swings. So that meant the Burrow was not an option as a place to stay, which meant she was back where she started…homeless. Coming out of her thoughts, she observed that these men were all looking at her worriedly. She sighed and looked to Sirius for confirmation.

"I did it again, didn't I" She kept losing touch with reality, losing touch with her thoughts. It happened less frequently but she knew it still bothered everyone.

"Yeah, but nothing's wrong with that. I spent most of my time out of reality and look how well I've turned out."

"Padfoot, not helping."

"What? All I did was point out that as a kid, I tended to space out a lot, particularly during classes and anything I didn't really want to do."

"You still do that." Hermione smiled at their antics, amused but still worried. It was Harry that put her at ease, softly touching her arm to get her attention.

"Really Hermione, that's the first time it's happened in three days, you're doing better and if I remember, even before…all this, you'd get lost in your many thoughts all the time." She smiled sadly at his efforts.

"Thanks Harry, now, why did you want to know my plans or if I'd talked to Mrs. Weasley?" Sirius grinned now, back on track.

"Well, you didn't have any plans now, right?' She nodded and was confused by how her answer, if possible, made him grin wider.

"Excellent."

"You're happy that I have no place to live?"

"Au contraire, mon frère."  
"Mon frère means brother." Remus pointed out. Sirius rolled his eyes.  
"Mon girly-frère, and I'm not happy, I'm ecstatic." Hermione gave him a dubious

look.

"Still not seeing cause for joy."

"Well-" But before Sirius could continue dancing around the subject, Harry

blurted out the question he knew they were there to ask..

"Will you come live with us?" Hermione's mouth dropped open. As she stared in shock, Sirius turned to his godson in disappointment.

"Aw, Harry, you ruined it!"

"Ruined what?" The boy asked curiously. Remus rolled his eyes, already knowing the answer to the boy's question. He answered before the animagus could.

"Anticipation. You see, Padfoot here can't just answer, or ask a question without sidetracking the issue and annoying the person he's talking to. It especially drove your mother nuts."

"Hey, I find holding off until the right moment particularly helpful in getting my way. By the time I ask the question, the person has built up so much anticipation that whatever I ask they usually say yes too. Lily only hated it because it worked."

"You want me to move in with you? Like, all of you, or just Harry, because I don't fancy staying with the Dursleys." Hermione's voice brought them back to the subject at hand. Harry laughed.

"Neither do I, nor do I have to. Because Voldemort is gone, I finally get to live my life. I'm going to be living at Grimmauld place with Sirius and Remus, and hopefully you."

Hermione say their anxious expressions. It was obvious that they really did want her presence at their home, but she only had one question.

"Why?" It was Sirius that answered first, getting the important stuff out of the way.

"Well, you're a girl; we kinda need a female presence at the house, makes it more 'homey'. You're nice to look at, and you'll keep me inline better then Remus ever could."

"Sirius!" The werewolf couldn't believe he'd said that, but after seeing the quirked lips on the girl in the bed, he didn't lecture. Instead he got serious.

"Hermione, Sirius is right, we do want you at the house and you probably will help keep us bachelors in line, but not as a piece of eye candy." He rolled his eyes at the term but smiled at Hermione's giggle. "The point is you need a place to stay, preferably somewhere quiet so you can recuperate, and someplace protected because you're still in danger. With us at Grimmauld, you'd have plenty of space, we wouldn't bother you or mother you, and you'll be protected. And if that doesn't sell you, then there's always the Black family library and the pleasure of living with us three handsome men." And with his last declaration the three struck poses that had her smiling. But she zeroed in on the youngest, her best friend.

"And what about you?" Harry grinned.

"Well, it was my idea actually. You're like my sister Hermione, and I'm worried about you. I'd like to know that you're okay. Beyond that you're my best friend and I wouldn't mind sharing a house with you, if anything so I'm not stuck with these two." The two marauders each gave indignant yells of 'hey!', but the boy-who-conquered ignored them, staying serious and taking Hermione's hand. "Please Hermione, move in with us?"

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders; one problem solved in the list of many. With another look to each of them, seeing their sincerity, she nodded her head.

"Yes, I'll move in with you."

At her affirmative answer, the three men shared smiles. Harry gave a happy shout of 'yes!', Remus grinned, and Sirius promptly turned into Padfoot and attacked Hermione on the bed with his doggy kisses, filling the room with Hermione's laughter. It was a happy scene, one filled with hope because now she had a new plan. Granted, it was only a small plan, but at least she knew where she was going to live, and for now, that was enough.

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A/N: Yay, another chapter down. I would've had this one up a lot sooner, but I lost my jump drive and had to find my handwritten notes in order to retype it all up. Then, a portion of the story was missing, so I had to remember my previous thoughts from a long, long time ago and rewrite it. Plus, well, life's been happening in a major way. So, it couldn't be helped. Anyway, I'm hoping you guys still like this story and I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know if I should continue, the next chapters almost done. More Weasleyness to come. Oh, and if anyone can spot the borrowed quote and where it came from, I'll give you a cyber cookie.

Toodles,

jessebelle


	3. A Home For Hermione

Which Weasley

By jessebelle

A/N: Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle

oOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOo

Chapter Three: A Home for Hermione

Graduation came and went faster then she'd hoped and all too soon it was time to leave the safety of Hogwarts and venture to her new home, Grimmauld Place. It wasn't the first time she'd left the hospital wing. She'd gone out a few times to get used to the crowds, clutching Harry's arm as a lifeline, but, she'd faced the masses and her fears. She'd attended graduation with the rest of her class. She'd ended up retreating as soon as the ceremony was over, not being able to face all the happy families. Seeing all of her classmates surrounded by their parents was a painful reminder of what she'd lost.

Harry hadn't wanted to let her go alone, but she'd pointed him in the direction of Remus, Sirius, and the Weasleys and had left once he was distracted. It was his day, a celebration of surviving his time at Hogwarts, literally. She knew she also had reason to celebrate, but she was fine with leaving the partying to the rest of her classmates. Of course, she also hadn't wanted to face Molly, who had disagreed with her choice in living arrangements. She seemed to think young women had no place staying with three bachelors on her own. The only reassurance the redheaded matriarch had was that Grimmauld Place was still headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, who were still working to help with the post Voldemort cleanup. And so, mostly likely, someone would be there to 'guard her virtue' at all times.

"You ready to go?" Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her addressers, Harry and Ron.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Lost-"

"In thought? Yeah, we know. Come on, the carriages are leaving soon." Harry smiled and through an arm around her shoulders. Ron followed suit, then together the two led her on their last walk through the halls of Hogwarts. Their ride on The Hogwarts Express seemed to pass by in an instant. One minute they were boarding the train, arm in arm and saying goodbye to everyone, the next they'd pulled into Platform 9 3/4s. Coming to a stop at the platform, Hermione's breathing seemed to quicken and her pulse started to race. Harry was at her side in an instant and quickly signaling with his eyes to Ron. The redhead worked quickly to clean out their compartment so they could properly help her.

"That's it guys, we're here. Owl us, keep in touch, it's been fun, now get out."

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, looking at her brother in confusion at his rudeness.

"What? Harry and I want to say goodbye to _Hermione _properly." He emphasized the girl's name. The youngest Weasley caught his hint and looked to where Harry was trying to calm the brunette girl down.

"Okay people, move it! The Golden Trio wants some time together and you need to meet your parents anyway." And together the two siblings ushered everyone out with Neville's help. The once round, shy boy was the most changed of all their class and now stood tall and strong. In a throwback to their first train ride, he was still struggling with Trevor.

"Will she be okay?" He nodded to Hermione. Harry looked up and smiled gratefully at the boy.

"Thank you, Neville. She'll be fine; the crowds are just a bit much."

"Understandable. I'll owl you guys."

"Bye Neville!" was chorused and even Hermione lifted her head up and managed a quick wave. After the boy had left, Ginny gestured to the door.

"I'm going to go let mum and everyone know what's keeping us. Do you want me to tell Sirius anything special Harry?" The boy-who-lived smiled gratefully at his girlfriend.

"No luv, just that she'll be okay, but I'm going to take her right to Grimmauld to be safe. _HE_'s probably out there picking up Draco." Ginny nodded understandably and after a quick, supportive pat on the arm to Ron she left.

"Hey Hermione, they're all gone now, you okay?" Hermione, her head between her knees, shook her head. There were too many people, too much noise. Harry looked up and shared a worried glance with Ron. "Do you want to go right to Grimmauld? We can apparate." She nodded her head yes.

Ron and Harry shared another look before the red head asked "Do you want me to come with?" This got a reaction. Hermione looked up and shook her head violently.

"No, your family's waiting, Ron. You need to go back to the Burrow and enjoy the summer." The red head rolled his eyes, and then pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

"Just because I'm done with Hogwarts doesn't mean I'm done with you. We're the Golden Trio, best friends forever and all that girly rubbish people say." Hermione couldn't help the laughter that came from her lips and held him tighter.

"Good to know, but I still think you should go home with your family. I've got Harry, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" She nodded against his chest. He gave her one last squeeze before handing her off to Harry. "You take good care of her mate. If you don't you'll have me to answer to and I can be a whole lot scarier then You-Know-Who." Harry smiled and laughed, rolling his eyes as Hermione was transferred into his arms.

"I got her, mate." Then the two shared a mature look that spoke volumes.

"Right then you two go home, and I'll owl you, or you know, pop in in a couple of days."

"Okay, bye Ron."

"Bye Harry, Hermione." He turned to leave when Hermione's voice stopped him.

"Ron?" He turned around curiously.

"Yeah?"

"You've got a bit of dirt on your nose." And with a smile and Harry's laughter, the two apparated with a pop from sight. Ron watched his friends leave, then taking one last look around the compartment, he exited the train, rubbing his nose.

Meanwhile

The Weasleys and the remaining Marauders stood in the crowd of parents on Platform 9 3/4s . They watched anxiously as the students began exiting the train; the homesick first years excited to see their parents, the awkward third years sad to leave their friends, and the relieved fifth years happy to be done with their OWLs.

"Hey, is that them?" Fred stood on his tiptoes to see over the crowd.

"No, those are the sixth years."

"Hey, there's a group of seventh years." The family all watched as more and more students began exiting the train.

"Hey, is that Ginny?" George asked after seeing a flash of red.

"No, the hairs too light, that's Susan Bones." The crowd began to disperse as the students met up with their parents and left for home, but there was no sign of the kids. They did, however, hear whispers.

"Hermione-"

"Panicking-"

"Still not over-" As the gossip flooded in, all those assembled began trading nervous glances. Fred and George shared particularly dark, worried looks. They'd been busy with the store and The Order, and so they hadn't been able to see Hermione since she'd become lucid. They'd been getting frequent updates from Ginny and had looked forward to seeing her at Ron's graduation, but from what Harry had said, she'd panicked and had escaped back to the hospital wind not wanting to see the happy families. The boy-who-conquered had also talked them out of going after her, so they'd really been anticipating seeing her now. Both nodded, communicating in their twin way before heading for the train, only to be stopped by their sister's voice.

"Hey everyone."

"Ginny?"

"Hello dear."

"How are you?" The Weasley parents quizzed their only daughter, but it was Sirius who asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny pulled out of her mother's embrace and looked to the worried faces of her family before finally settling on the former convict.

"How did you? Never mind, I came to tell you that she's going to be apparating back to Grimmauld with Harry. She's still not up for crowds, but managed the train ride, Then when we pulled unto the platform and she saw all the parents, she started to freak. Harry's watching her though, and she was doing a lot better when I left. She's just a little bit touchy, seeing all the families."

"Well do you blame her?" George asked, not liking his little sister's tone. The youngest Weasley's eyes flew to her brother.

"Of course not!" she said defensively. "I was just saying it was hard on her. Anyway, we thought I should relay the message since the trio is saying their goodbyes."

"Thank you, Ginny," Remus said, then he turned to his best friend. "Shall we apparate and meet them there?" Sirius nodded.

"Yes, I want to check on her and they probably shouldn't be at the house alone."

"Wait!"

"We want"

"To come"

"And see"

"Her too!" The twins looked pleadingly at the two remaining marauders. The older two pranksters shared a look, then Sirius shook his head.

"Sorry boys, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"But why?"

"We haven't"

"Seen her"

"For at least"

"A month."

"We're"

"Worried." Molly took a deep breath before turning to her sons.

"I'm sorry boys, but Sirius is probably right. Hermione still doesn't really remember the attack, nor does she know it was you and your brothers that saved her. She hasn't been able to handle the details. She wouldn't understand why you're so eager to see her." The twins shared identical defeated looks before nodding in understanding.

"Fine, but"

"Keep us"

"Informed and"

"We'll visit"

"Grimmauld soon"

"To see her." Sirius smiled.

"That's fine, just…" But he trailed off when he saw the youngest Weasley son had joined the group. "Ron!" The redhead gave his mother a sad smile before nodding to Remus and Sirius.

"They apparated a few minutes ago. She's better; she just didn't want to face the crowds." Remus smiled kindly at the third member of the trio.

"Thank you, Ron. I suppose you'll be by to visit soon?" Ron nodded.

"If you don't mind." Sirius clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Not at all, you're welcome anytime. Now, we have a maiden to go interrogate. Come Lord Lupin, back to the Manor of Despair." And Sirius apparated away. Rolling his eyes at his friend's antics, but fighting a smile, Remus gave a collective smile to the group.

"Right, I'm going to go after him. I'm not too worried about the kids, but Sirius, he requires constant supervision. Ron, Molly, Weasleys, I'll see you all later." Then with a pop the werewolf disappeared leaving the Weasleys alone on the platform. The matriarch of the group signaled her children with a clap of her hands.

"Well then, we should get back home. I've got a welcome dinner waiting." Ron's stomach gave a grumble at her words and the family began to laugh. Ears red, Ron apologized.

"Sorry, I've just really missed mum's cooking." Then suddenly he seemed to understand his mother's words from before. "Wait, did you say it was the twins that rescued Hermione from Malfoy?" Molly shared a look with her husband, then with the twins.

"Yes, it was the twins, Bill, and Charlie."

"You mean you didn't know?" Ginny asked. Ron shook his head.

"No, all we knew was they were order members. How did you…? Does Harry know?" Ginny gave a sheepish shrug.

"I kind of figured it out when our brothers suddenly took over hospital wing to keep her company and when the twins started owling me for updates on her condition. I didn't know about Bill or Charlie though. And I don't know if Harry knows, I just thought you both did." The family shared worried glances when Ron took a deep breath, but he surprised them all when he turned to the twins and sighed.

"Thank You." His voice was filled with unspoken emotion. For once the twins were serious. Nodding, Fred replied.

"Your welcome, but not necessary."

"We did what we had to."

"How come no one told us, hell, told Hermione it was you guys. I'm sure she'd like to thank you." Fred and George looked to their mother.

"Yeah!"

"We'd like"

"To know"

"That too!" Molly rolled her eyes at her sons' antics, and then nodded for Arthur to answer. He turned to his children all looking up at him with eager eyes. Sighing, he explained the situation surrounding their friend.

"Some of the events of the attack were so traumatic that Hermione's mind wasn't able to process them and she blocked those memories out. I'm sure you all remember when she was, for lack of a better word, catatonic." The Weasley siblings shared dark looks and nodded. "Well she doesn't remember that either. Madame Pomfrey doesn't want to overload her, so she doesn't want us telling her any of the details of the attack and part of what she doesn't remember is her rescue by the boys. So no, she doesn't know who rescued her and I ask you all not to share this information with her until she can handle it."

Once again the siblings shared looks. Ron and Ginny especially didn't like the thought of keeping something like this from their friend, but if it helped her…

"Okay." Ron spoke for them all.

"Good, now why don't we end this depressing talk and go home." Mr. Weasley finished and began heading toward the barrier, leading his family.

"Yeah, Ron must be starving right now." Fred added, trying to lighten the mood in his usual manner. Ron flushed then shoved his elder brother.

"Shut up!" but his stomach growled proving Fred's statement true. Laughing, the family left the platform in lighter spirits then they'd arrived. It was good to be together again.

At Grimmauld Place

Harry and Hermione were also in lighter spirits, laughing as they apparated into the entrance of Grimmauld Place.

"Did you see his face?" Hermione managed to ask between chuckles. Harry laughed and nodded.

"Yes! I can't believe you did that to him. Merlin, you were such a swot back then." The girl grinned.

"And that's changed how?" Harry smiled back at her.

"Well, let's see; lying to the professors, breaking into Snape's potions stores and stealing ingredients, brewing illegal potions with said ingredients…"

"All right, stop. You don't have to go on. I blame all those all on your and Ron's influence, though." Harry grinned mischievously.

"And we'll quite happily take the blame." The two stood there, in the entrance hall, breathing deeply as they recovered from their laughter and sobering up as they realized the reality of their situation.

"I can't believe we're done with Hogwarts."

"I know, our days of sneaking around and unveiling evil teachers are over." The two were silent for a while before Hermione spoke again. "I'm scared Harry. I only know how to be a student. Teach me a spell, give me an essay and I'm okay, but what am I supposed to do now?" Harry pulled the girl who he considered family into his arms.

"I know, I'm scared too. For so long I wasn't even sure if I'd make it to graduation, but now Voldemort's gone and I don't have a clue what to do. At least you know have your life planned."

"What? All of my plans fell through?" Hermione looked up at Harry from the comfort of his arms. The boy-who-defeated grinned cheekily.

"Of course you have plans. You're going to marry Ron and have lots of bushy haired, red headed Weasley babies."

"Harry!" She smacked him in the chest, hard, but Harry just laughed as he rubbed the spot where she'd hit him. She tried to glare, but couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face.

"That hurt." Harry exclaimed, still chuckling. Hermione nodded.

"Remember that the next time you make a joke like that." Her expression then changed, becoming more serious as she asked. "You know that Ron and I will never happen, right Harry?" He nodded.

"Yes, I do. I think the only one that doesn't realize it is Mrs. Weasley. She still expects you to marry Ron and give her lots of grandchildren." Hermione grimaced at the thought.

"Never. I plan on having a career first." Then the mood turned somber. "And there's the fact that after…I don't think any guy would ever want me."

Harry's eyes flew open in surprise. "Are you kidding; any guy would kill to have you! And if I didn't, you know, think of you like a sister and weren't madly in love with Ginny, I'd be fighting for you myself."

Hermione smiled wistfully. "Really, you think so?" Harry pulled her into another hug.

"I may not be a know-it-all like you, but I know so. You're beautiful, intelligent, funny…plus you have a mean right hook." She giggled.

"Do go on." He pulled her even closer and opened his mouth to further sing her praises when there were two loud apparition pops and Sirius and Remus both appeared, looking around the foyer worriedly. Upon spotting them, Remus gave a sigh of relief and Sirius' gaze followed his, spotting them standing in an embrace by the staircase.

"Thank Merlin, are you okay Hermione?" Sirius walked over to the pair and took her out of Harry's arms and into his own. Hermione nodded against his chest. She'd never really been hugged before by Sirius. It felt…nice. She took in a wiff of his cologne and smiled; it was the same as Harry's and it brought to mind the feeling of safety. "Hermione?" She looked up to see Sirius looking down on her, and amused smile on his face. "Comfy?" Feeling not quite happy but more content then she'd been in a while; she snuggled into his embrace and grinned cheekily at him

"Why yes…yes I am." He laughed and she could feel the vibrations off of his chest.

From beside them Remus asked her, concern in his voice, "Are you okay now?" She nodded at him over Sirius' arm.

"Yes, it was just a bit too…"

"Overwhelming?" provided the werewolf. She nodded.

"Exactly. Harry calmed me down, though, so I'm better now."

"Good." Sirius said, releasing her and spinning her around in his arms to face the rest of the house. "Now, let me be the first to welcome you home" And with Sirius's enthusiastic voice and a look to Remus and Harry and their smiles, Hermione echoed Sirius word with a smile on her face.

"Home." And it was.

A/N: Told you I had it ready to go. So, still enjoying it? Are you on your hands and knees begging me to stop? Let me know. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in a timely manner, but…no promises. Anyway, have a happy holidays if I don't get in up in time and I look forward to reading your reviews.

Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle


	4. Acceptance

Which Weasley

By jessebelle

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Chapter Four: Acceptance

Living with two Marauders and one boy-who-conquered was not always easy. Sirius had been correct in saying a female influence was needed in the house because, simply put, they were the ultimate bachelors. Hermione felt like an exasperated mother as she yelled at Harry to get his muddy feet off the table, reprimand them for pulling pranks, or call them in from flying. Luckily, Dobby had followed Harry from Hogwarts, and though she refused to admit it, she was thankful for the house elf's help. With him there she didn't have to worry about the cooking or cleaning, though she did help out when possible. And of course, she'd insisted and nagged Harry until it was agreed that Dobby was free with a salary of two galleons a month (he'd take no more) and whatever days off he wanted.

Of course, living at Grimmauld place also had its perks. She had full use of the library and was able to spend as much time as she wanted studying. She also knew the latest on the cleanup front of the Death Eaters as Dumbledore kept Sirius and Remus well informed. And though they hadn't had any official meetings at the house yet (they wanted to give her time to adjust first) company was now able to pop in at any time Just last week she'd had Tonks over to help her get revenge on the boys for the prank they'd pulled on her. Honestly, charming all the books so they were in Ancient Greek was completely childish.

But then there were the little things that made living there special. The things that cemented in her mind that she'd made the right choice. Being able to talk to Remus when her thoughts became too much and get the gentle werewolf's wise advice. Or being able to seek out Sirius when she needed a hug and have him instinctively pull her into a comforting embrace. And then there was Harry. Living together, actually living together instead of having an entire castle to share had changed their relationship. Both only children (Dudley didn't count), they'd never had a sibling to annoy and fight with. And now, at times, the two would revert back to childhood; name calling and fighting over the stupidest things.

Things like the bathroom:

"Hermione, are you out of the bathroom yes? You've been in there forever!"

"Harry, I've been in her five minutes, it takes a while to do my hair. Use the bathroom downstairs!"

"But this is the one with my shampoo!"

"You're a wizard, conjure it!"

Or the fights over the TV they'd insisted Sirius get as they were both from muggle families:

"Harry! I was watching that!"

"But my show is on!"

"I was here first!"

"But this is a rerun!"

"I don't care, Buffy's about to blow up the judge with a rocket launcher and I didn't get to see this one because I was at Hogwarts!"

"But you already know what happens!"

"Yes, but now I want to see it!"

One such fight over the remote had had the two actually wrestling on the floor to get the devise form each other. Remus had to come in and break it up as Sirius had been too busy laughing and giving encouragement to Hermione. "Use you elbow! That's my girl!"

But their fighting had only strengthened their relationship, so much that both had slowly gotten over their personal taboos with touching. Growing up with the Dursleys, Harry wasn't used to hugs or pats on the back, nor could he even contemplate a good snuggle. After her encounter with Malfoy, Hermione had shied away from physical encounters. But slowly, she'd recovered and now sought out hugs with Sirius, and with Harry. One night the two had fallen asleep with each other in front of the TV. Sirius hadn't wanted to wake them, knowing Hermione hadn't been sleeping well thanks to her nightmares and so the adults had let them stay there. It had been the first night since her attack that she'd slept the whole night through. It was the same for Harry who'd been suffering with dreams of the final battle. Together they'd been able to find comfort through the night. Now whenever Hermione had a nightmare, or just to feel safe at night she'd taken to climbing in to Harry's bed. By now it had become routine. However, it was purely platonic and Ginny knew about their arrangements since that first awkward morning when Harry had owled her out of guilt. She'd owled back immediately saying she trusted them and if it helped, to continue, but not to say anything to her mother as she was still uneasy about Hermione's living arrangements. Hermione feared the day Mrs. Weasley found out about their new sleeping arrangements.

It was today, though, a month after graduation that Hermione was dreading. Dumbledore had decided it was time to start holding Order meetings back at the house and today her comfortable routine would have to change. It was the first time she'd be faced with a crowd of people since the train ride home, not to mention that these were the same people who knew exactly what had happened to her and had even seen the evidence. It would also be her first Order meeting since the defeat of Voldemort, and the first time she'd be seeing some familiar faces from Hogwarts and the majority of the Order, including the Weasleys. Though Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley were frequent visitors to Grimmauld, the rest of the Weasleys had been occupied with business from the Order, the same business that they'd be discussing tonight. Tonks, Dumbledore, and Madame Pomfrey were the only others that she'd seen personally, and though she'd glimpsed a few other Order members, for the most part she'd taken to 'studying' in the library when company came to visit the boys.

Currently she sat on the stairs watching Sirius and Remus argue on pulling a prank at tonight's meeting. Sirius apparently wanted to rig the chairs so that when the Order members sat down their hair would change colors to reflect their moods. Remus, though not against the prank entirely, was trying to convince Sirius just to wait until after the meeting. Personally, Hermione though it was a bit childish, but at the time she was curious to see how the spell would work. Living with the Marauder's and seeing the extensive knowledge of spells, potions, and how magic interacts together had given her a new appreciation for the havoc the twins used to pull at Hogwarts. Not that she'd admit it, though, she had a reputation to uphold.

"You okay?" She jumped in shock when a voice spoke from right next to her ear. Harry had taken a seat next to her on the stairs to watch the argument. "What's wrong?" he asked when she jumped.

"I'm fin, just jumpy." She insisted as she waited for Sirius and Remus to continue with the argument, though it looked like it was about to turn into a duel now that Sirius had taken out his wand.

"Sorry." The boy replied as he put an arm around her. She sighed comfortably and rested her head on his shoulder. "So, nervous about tonight?" Without taking her eyes off the now pink haired Remus she answered.

"No, why would I be nervous?"

"Maybe because the last time you saw these people was, I dunno, right after your attack and it'll be the first time you're going to have to face most of them, and all at once in a crowd, which if you haven't forgotten, you don't do well with?"

Instantly her blood began to boil and she pulled away from him sharply. She could see the remorse from what he'd said on his face, clearly he hadn't been thinking, but she didn't care. She also Sirius and Remus turn to t\watch them, but ignoring their presence she let into the boy-who-conquered.

"Why Gee, Harry, thank you for reminding me. I'd nearly forgotten that the last time most of these people had seen me I WAS SPRAWLED NAKED AND BEATEN ON THE TABLE AFTER BEING RAPED BY MALFOY!!"

As soon as the words left her mouth her entire body froze. She'd never said those words before, never even though them. She knew people had suspected that that's what had happened, but never had she confirmed it. As long as she didn't say it, didn't think about it, it wasn't true. Horror written all over her face, she turned when she heard quite a few gasps. It seemed that Order had arrived and Dobby had showed them in just in time to here her words.

She spotted Dumbledore, his features darker then she'd ever seen. Sirius and Remus looked like they wanted to tear someone apart. Her old professors were there; Snape and McGonagall wearing faces to rival Sirius and Remus', Flitwick looking like the dueling champion he'd been, and Sprout looking like she wanted to take her pruning sheers directly to Malfoy. The female Order members, such as Tonks, Hestia Jones, and Emmaline Vance looked shocked and sympathetic with their hands covering their mouths. The male members of the Order sported angry looks mixed with sympathy, a combination that gave them a fierce look. Then there were the Weasleys.

Molly stood gripping her husbands arm looking like she was about to cry while at the same time looking like she was ready to hunt Malfoy down herself. Arthur looked scarier then she'd thought capable, a protective are around Ginny who looked floored, not knowing of everyone else's previous suspicions. Ron…Ron looked angrier then she'd ever seen him and at the same time heartbroken. And then there were the rest of the Weasley boys. They were all there, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George, and each of them wore looks so angry, so protective, she didn't know quite how to describe it.

"Hermione." Instantly she turned back to Harry who had called her name. He himself looked so upset she nearly felt sorry for him. He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm-"

"Don't you dare!" her voice was low and laced with so much hurt it made him and everyone present wince. She jerked her arm out of his grasp.

"But-"

"No! You made me say it! You made me say it and now it's real! You!-" She went from screaming to sobbing. Again he tried to take her in his arms, comfort her like he had in the past, but as soon as he got a hold of her-

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked. He pulled away like he'd been burned.

She held her arms around herself protectively, trying to hold in the feelings that were over taking her. Her breathing quickened, the room felt like it was shrinking. She could see the horror on everyone's faces, their worry, their pity.

Sirius could see the panic in her eyes and ignoring her previous yell moved to pick her up. She didn't deserve to have everyone watch her as she finally broke down. It was a mistake. As soon as he got near, her panic increased and he received an elbow in the gut. She was hysterical.

Hermione herself only saw a figure approaching, and she fought, she fought like she had that night. Grimmauld place swirled before her eyes and was replaced with her old house, the one that was now a burnt shell. She didn't hear the yells telling someone to call Madame Pomfrey, the voices telling her to calm down, to breathe. All she heard was _Him._

"_My dear, Hermione, how lovely to see you again. What, no hug?" The door of the closet she'd been hiding in had been ripped open and He'd been standing there, looking down at her with an evil grin and those eyes…those grey soulless eyes. "You know why I'm here, don't you?"_

_She clung to the back of the closet, tears streaming down her face. "Please."_

"_What, begging, Miss. Granger? From all those stories I've heard I expected better from you. But then again you're nothing but a filthy mudblood, so it's hardly surprising. I wonder, does you blood look like the muggle filth I'm covered, in? After all, you do share it with them." The flames from the fire he held at bay illuminated his robes, his robes that were dripping with her parents' blood. A whimper escaped her lips._

"_Aww, does my appearance upset you, Miss Granger? I suppose I'll have to change, I wouldn't want to make you…uncomfortable. I do have so much fun planned." He went to wave his wand, the cleaning charm on his lips, before he chuckled. "I think I like this much better, it forces you to realize exactly who you're dealing with." Then with no warning he reached in the closet and pulled her out by her hair._

"_No! NO!"_

"_Keep struggling Miss Granger, it only makes it more exciting for me." One hand holding hers above her head, his weight crushing against her chest, pinning her to the floor, his other roaming. "Now lets try and have some fun. I wonder, how will you compare to your dear Mummy?" _

_Screaming in horror as her head was jerked to the side and she was face to face and with her mother's corpse, the older woman's face contorted into a silent scream, her eyes, exactly like her own pleading in an unanswered cry for help._

"_NO! Get off!" Trying to break free._

"_So you want it rough then?" SMACK! "Is this better Miss. Granger?" She could feel his punches, feel each hit. Managing a knee to his groin and taking him by surprise; running, crawling from his grasp. Feeling his arms encircle hers, his warm breath on her ear. "I'm done playing around like a hapless muggle, bitch. Immobulus." Instantly her body froze, she couldn't move. "Much better. Now take it like a good mudblood, Miss Granger."_

"_Miss Granger."_

"Miss Granger."

"NOOO!" She was wrenched back to the present. She was at Grimmauld place, sitting on the floor as she rocked, and surrounded by concerned and horror filled faces. A hand reached out, she registered it as Mrs. Weasleys but she didn't care. She crawled backwards until she was flat with the wall and reached for her wand. "Don't Touch Me!"

"Herm-"

"Get Away!"

"Her-"

"I said get away!" She pointed the wand at the approaching figure, Harry. The boy-who-lived stopped in his tracks. As she began to voice a curse, he quickly held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! Okay, I'm backing away Hermione."

As he watched the scene before him, Bill Weasley had had enough. "Everyone Out!" His voice was loud, entering the fray along with red sparks from his wand. "I want everyone in the kitchen, now! She doesn't deserve this, staring at her like an exhibit at the zoo."

Agreeing with their brother, Charlie, Percy, and the twins began ushering everyone into the kitchen, pushing and using curses when needed. It took quite a bit of manhandling, but soon the foyer was near empty. Hermione still sat pushed up against the wall with her wand out in front of her protectively. It was now only the Weasley boys, Harry, Sirius, and Remus that remained.

"Harry, go to the kitchen." Sirius' voice matched his name.

"No, I'm not leaving her like this."

"Cub, you're doing more harm then good by being here." Remus chimed in.

"No, I-"

"All of you OUT!" George's voice was a far cry from his usual tone.

"But-"

"If you want to help her, go to the kitchen like everyone else. We'll take care of her." Fred's voice stopped any arguments.

"Percy, can you?" The middle Weasley son nodded and with help from Charlie managed to wrangle the house's owners into the kitchen.

"You'll take care of her?" Percy asked. He knew he wasn't a part of the group, but he still cared for the girl, especially after tonight.

"Do you have to ask?" Charlie answered. A look passed between the brothers before the youngest disappeared behind the door. Pulling out his wand, Charlie quickly sealed the kitchen, then returned to where Bill and the twins stood.

"Now what?"

"You're the one who wrestles dragons all day, you tell us." Bill looked to Charlie, his eyes never leaving the girl on the floor.

"Yeah, fire breathing dragon, hysterical crying girl; I can see the resemblance. Oww!" Charlie grabbed his side where one of the twins had hit him

"Quit joking around."

"This isn't funny." Coming from the twins it certainly spoke volumes.

Taking a deep breath Charlie decided it was time to act. "Fine I'm going to try approaching her. Stay back and whatever you do don't touch her, don't crowd her, and don't raise your voice above a whisper. Stay calm." Closing his eyes and wishing he were back in Romania with the dragons, he slowly began walking towards the crouched figure.

"Hermione." She whimpered and her wand shook in warning. "Hermione, can you hear me?" Her response was the same. With a look back to Bill, he took another step forward. "Hermione, I'm going to come closer now-"

"Stay Back!" She yelled and her eyes flew up to meet his. Seeing the terror and fear in her eyes, he wished it had been him that had dueled Malfoy. He stopped at her words and like Harry had done before, held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, I'm stopping. Hermione, do you know where you are?" She was shaking like a leaf and her face was pale, but her eyes never left his.

"Grimmauld Place." Charlie nodded.

"Good girl, yes, we're at Grimmauld Place. You're safe here, do you know that?"

"I-I-"

"Shhh, remember, you live here with Sirius and Remus and Harry. Do you remember them?" Her eyes flashed in anger. Good, another emotion. Now if only it didn't make her resemble a dragon even more

"Harry-"

"I know, he said some awful things. Do you remember what happened after that?" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"He made me say it." The hurt in her voice made him wince. At the moment he wanted to hurt the boy, defeater of Voldemort or not. Then he wanted to hurt himself for what he had to do.

"What did he make you say, Hermione?" She began to cry again.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Fred's voice from behind questioned.

"She needs to say it, she needs to accept it if she ever wants to get past it?" He answered quietly, then in a strong voice he demanded again, "What did he make you say Hermione?"

"I-it-"

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea Charlie." Bill's voice was telling him to back off, but he persisted. "Hermione-"

"I"

"Charlie!" Now George called his name, but before he could respond, he got the response he'd been after from the girl on the floor.

"I was raped." It was a strangled cry. Her wand dropped to the floor in loud clatter and rolled toward the Weasleys. Landing at Fred's feet, the twin picked it up for safe keeping before turning back to the heart wrenching seen.

"I was raped. I was raped. I was raped." She began to rock, back and forth as she sobbed the words. Unlike previously, however, her thoughts weren't internal.

Abandoning his own previous caution, Charlie raced to where she sat but stayed a foot away. "Shh, its okay, you're safe. Do you remember-?"

"He hurt me, I can feel-"

"I know, luv." He didn't touch her, but offered as much comfort as he could. She looked up to him with dead eyes.

"Why?" That simple word finally broke the damn in his heart and he could feel a tear slip out. He gave the same answer that George had given her months back.

"I don't know, sweetie, I don't know." And she cried.

Hermione could feel the pain, feel the hurt, feel everything. Every emotion she'd stored, every thought she'd ignored, every tear she'd held in came pouring out. She cried, gut wrenching sobs, full blown body shaking sobs until finally those observing couldn't take it anymore. George was the first to break; kneeling down by his brother he ignored the warnings of 'don't' and scooped the girl up into his arms. At first she struggled, and then too tired to do anything but cry she let him hold her as she wept. At her acceptance of his comforting, Fred and Bill also came closer, kneeling down and offering as much comfort as they could. What seemed like hours was only minutes and soon, emotionally exhausted, she went limp in his arms. Seeing this Fred became panicked.

"Is she?"  
"She's fine, just asleep." George assured his twin. "Bill, can you?"

The eldest Weasley son nodded, then reaching down he scooped her up into his arms as he stood up. His brother's followed. He made it as far as the stairs before asking, "Where does she sleep."

"I don't know." Was the general consensus. Knowing there was only one way to find out, Charlie released the charm on the kitchen doors. As soon as it was gone it opened and the majority of its occupants rushed out.

"Where is she?"

"Is she okay?"

"What did you guys do?"

"How-"

"Quiet!!" Bill spoke, catching the attention of everyone present. Before they could question her status again upon seeing her unconscious form, he quickly answered. "If anyone makes one noise to disturb her, I'll curse you then give you to the twins and Charlie. She's fine, only sleeping and emotionally drained. I need to know where she sleeps."

Everyone was quiet as they registered the curse breakers words, then Harry quietly answered as if in a daze.

"She sleeps with me." A few seconds went by before the reactions began.

"What!"

"Sirius, Remus, I told you-"

"Improper-"

"I though he was seeing Ginny-"

"QUIET NOW!" The loud whisper had the effect of a scream. Ginny Weasley separated from the crowd and joined her brothers, facing them.

"Ginerva-"

"Mother, be quiet. We can deal with the improperness of it all tomorrow. I knew about it, I encouraged it. It's purely platonic and it's so both of them can get a decent nights sleep without nightmares." She turned to her eldest brother. "Take her to Harry's room. She should be fine for tonight and we can check on her later."

Bill nodded at his sister then disappeared up the stairs. Ginny then turned to the rest of the group. "I just found out my best friend has been through hell and back, I'm tired, I'm going home." She looked back at her brothers. "Take care of her." Then she disappeared into the drawing room. A flash of green light and a whooshing sound informed them all that she'd used the floo.

Bill reappeared at the top of the stairs. Taking a deep breath he pinched the bridge of his nose before addressing the group. "She's in Harry's room and she's sleeping. No one disturbs her. Charlie got her to accept she'd been raped which she needed to do if she's ever going to face this thing." He reached the last step. "Harry, find somewhere else to sleep tonight. I know you've been comforting each other and I know you two are close, but right now in her mind you're the one who made her face these things and she's not going to like you very much for a while. Sirius, Remus, take care of her, she's fragile, but don't treat her like a porcelain doll either. She's strong, she'll recover. I, and I'm sure my brothers will be by to check up on her when we can, though I believe Dumbledore would like us to return to our posts. Speaking of, Professor?" He turned to the wizened wizard.

Albus Dumbledore had seen a great many horrors in his lifetime, but the scene tonight had still affected him greatly. Shaking out of his thoughts he faced the eldest Weasley son and nodded in acknowledgment. "That is true, though after seeing the way you handled her I wish it didn't need to be that way. Everyone, while I know that tonight was filled with many revelations and has disturbed you all, I ask that we recollect ourselves and reconvene in the kitchen."

"Albus, after everything you've witnessed tonight you still wish to hold the meeting? What about Hermione?"

Sighing the headmaster addressed his Transfiguration Professor. "Miss Granger will no doubt sleep the night, and though I wish it weren't so, if we don't come up with a plan, tonight will only be the start of her worries. I'm afraid something has happened which is going to affect some of us greatly, especially Miss Granger." At his words the Order members who worked for the Ministry gasped.

"You mean?" Arthur asked, aghast. His thoughts immediately went out even further to the girl upstairs, the girl who was as much of a daughter to him as Ginny, a girl whose troubles tonight were only going to get worse.

Nodding sadly, the twinkle in his eye nowhere in sight, Albus Dumbledore delivered the horrible news. "Yes, Arthur. It's as I feared, Lucius Malfoy has gotten his way; The Marriage Law has been passed."

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A/N: Okay, this is quite a heavy/angsty chapter. I know most of you want some more lightheartedness and happy Weasley lovin', but to get to the good and to build up the relationship between the characters there's got to be a bit of badness. I promise, the story will get more romance/fun, but Hermione was raped, a very serious issue, and I'm a firm believer that you can't just go :poof: she's fine, and have it be done with in one chapter. The next chappie will introduce my version of the marriage law, hopefully bring a close to most of the angst, and soon we'll be able to get to the good stuff. In the mean time, though, tell me how I did. Was it rubbish? Was it okay? Too much, too little? Let me know. Hope you all are still enjoying it and I'll do my best to get the next chapter written ASAP. Now until next time…

Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle


	5. Aftermath

Which Weasley

By jessebelle

Chapter Five: Aftermath

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Hermione awoke the next morning feeling like she'd been ran over by the knightbus, trampled by a herd of hippogriffs, then been used as a quaffle in a quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Opening her eyes took an unusual amount of strength and as the light flooded into her vision she wished she hadn't bothered. Taking a few deep breaths she tried again, this time pulling herself up and observing her surroundings. Quidditch posters and pictures of friends and family lined the walls; she was in Harry's room.

For a moment it was like everything was normal, for a moment she was able to forget the horror of the night. Then with one look at the bespectacled boy standing in the doorway, it all came rushing back. Harry, the Order, admitting she was…raped. The anger, the fear, the feeling of just wanting to curl up in a ball and d-

"Hermione?" His voice was cautious and worried. Whether the worry was for him or her she didn't know, but he definitely had reason to be cautious. "Herm-" He sighed. "I brought you breakfast. It's your favorite, scrambled eggs, hash browns, waff-"

"Please leave." Those two whispered words weren't even a fraction of what she really wanted to say to him, but they were all she could give for the moment.

"Hermione, I'm so-"

"I don't care. I want to be alone. Leave."

"But-"

"Get out."

"Her-"

"Get out. Get Out! GET OUT!!" her screams were frantic and drained her of energy. Luckily they got the point across and the defeater-of-Voldemort ran from the room, tail practically between his legs. Once she was sure he was gone, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

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Downstairs the higher ups in the Order sat eating breakfast, their thoughts with the girl still in bed. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, the Weasleys sans Percy, Tonks, Shacklebolt, and the two living Marauders sat around the table waiting for the inevitable fall out that would occur because Harry had insisted he bring her breakfast. Hearing her screams, they all jumped, but it was the Weasley boys that were quickest and already on their feet. It was only through magic, a quick spell from their mother that had them frozen in their tracks.

"I don't think that'll be the best idea, boys."

"But Mum!"

"She needs us!"

"No. Now calm down; you'll do her no help worked up like-Billius Weasley you'd best sit your bum down now. You're not too old that I won't take you over my knee, you as well Charles." It was due to many years of experience that she'd been able to eye all her boys at once, including her two eldest who'd been sneaking out. Another glance around the room assured her all red heads were accounted for; the twins and Ronald frozen in place and Ginny being held back at the table by her father's arm.

"Mum, Hermione is-" Bill should've known better then to try and take on his mother.

"Hurting, embarrassed, frightened, angry? Yes she is, and I don't think setting a flock of angry young men loose to try and help is going to make her feelings go away. What she needs is time, a bit of understanding, and for certain young men in her life to know when to keep their distance." Her last sentence was aimed at the young man she considered her seventh son; the young man that was currently sneaking into the kitchen with a defeated look on his face.

Harry heard her words and his face, if possible, became even more downtrodden. He sighed and placed the full plate of food back on the table

"She wasn't hungry." Then he slumped into the nearest chair.

"You seriously can't expect she'd forgive you just like that." Ron stated knowingly. His best friend just sighed.

"I know, I just wish things could go back like they were yesterday, before-"

"Before you blurted out the brutal truth of her situation and made her face her fears in front of all the people she cares about. Yeah mate, I'm sure she wishes for the same thing." The words were harsh, but true. It was the source of them that was surprising though.

"Fred Weasley!"

"Mum, he"

"I know what he did, and I also know he feels terrible about it. Besides, some good came of it."

"Oh yeah, like what?" This time George was the one who was bitter.

"Fred, George, stop. Leave Harry alone, Mum's right. Even though I wish the circumstances had been better, at least Hermione's faced her demons. Besides, we have more important things to worry about." Bill, ever the voice of reason, laid out the reality of the situation they were in.

"Fine. Sorry Harry." Fred turned back to his breakfast

"Its fine, you're right. Now I just have to get her to forgive me, if anything so she won't bite my head off when we have to comfort her."

"Well, good luck with that one mate. Better you then me." It was weird for Ron to be the one on the outside of Hermione's anger, and knowing it was such a rare occasion, he was going to enjoy it.

Breakfast continued in relative silence between the younger generation while the adults quietly discussed ways they could help the young girl upstairs. Suggestions were made from smuggling her out of the country, to hiding her under the fidelus charm until the Ministry came to its senses. The only option that no one chose to mention was the most likely of options, that someone would have to marry her, but it stubbornly remained unsaid due to denial.

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Getting back to sleep was a battle that she was just too tired to fight. And after finally giving up, she forced herself out of bed to take a shower. Looking in the mirror she could see the physical evidence of her emotional turmoil. Dark circles, haunted eyes, sunken skin; she was too skinny and her skin definitely reflected the fact she'd barely seen the sun in the last few months. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to undress and start a shower. She wanted to scream.

Who was that person staring back at her in the mirror? Who was the ghost that seemed to have taken over her body? Would anyone still want her after this? Would she even want to be wanted?

Sighing and stepping under the stream of water, she pushed those worries to the back of her mind. She had much more important things to worry about, like how she was going to face everyone. She'd never felt so naked, so raw as she had the night before. It made her sick just to think of all their faces; how they'd seen her break down. She was also curious as to why it had been the elder Weasley boys who had taken care of her, calmed her down, and why she'd let them.

Her memories of That Night had resurfaced, but those from her time spent healing were still fuzzy. She vaguely remembered them stopping by, and seeing how she was, but she had no clue toward their motivation. After all, she was just their youngest brother's little friend.

Stepping out of the shower she quickly dried, then threw on a robe to make her way into her bedroom. Entering it felt foreign, she'd spent the last weeks sleeping with Harry, but now that would have to change. Making her way to her wardrobe, she quickly found some clothes and threw them on. With a flick of her wand her hair was done, her sallow complexion hidden from sight. Another glimpse in the mirror revealed her mask was in place, no glimpse of her inner battle was shown on her face. Then she sat on the bed and stared at the door.

She'd got up, she'd got dressed… Did she go downstairs? Were they waiting for her? She'd heard voices before and knew for a fact that at least Mrs. Weasley was present because of the breakfast. She had no doubt that Ginny would at least be in attendance, if not Ron after last night's entertainment. Briefly she wondered if the rest of the family had tagged along, and then she wondered why she cared; why the thought of them not being there made her feel worse. Grabbing a pillow she hugged it to her chest and sighed. She hated this, this feeling of not knowing what to so. She was Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age. And she was sitting up here like a coward, a slytherin. She took another deep breath, this time dropping the pillow from her arms and onto the bed before slowly getting to her feet. Her legs felt like lead, but she still dragged them to the door, down the hall, down the stairs until she was right outside the kitchen. It was there she paused, unsure if she was making the right decision. It wasn't like they wouldn't understand if she stayed in bed all day. She deserved a rest.

No, she was a Gryffindor damn it, she was not going to give in. She squared her shoulders and her hand reached out to the handle of the door to the kitchen when she heard her name. Her arm dropped as if it'd been burned. But after steeling her nerves, she forced herself to stay, to listen to what they were saying about her. Then she'd make her entrance, once she was informed about things.

"Poor girl, I don't think she can take much more." Mrs. Weasley's voice was full of motherly concern. It was nice to know something's didn't change.

"I agree, but there's nothing we can do now except protect her the best that we can." Snape? Professor Snape was concerned about her. Merlin, had something else happened, or were they talking about one of his Slytherin girls?

"I would marry her in a heartbeat if I thought it would save her, but I'm pretty sure she'd prefer someone closer to her age."

Shacklebolt? Marriage? They better not be talking about her. Why would she have to get married? Unless…what if now she was no longer… innocent, she had to get married? Was it some wizarding custom she didn't know about? Would they kick her out? Break her wand? Or no, she gasped, she couldn't be pregnant; she'd know if she was by now, right? So that meant they must not be talking about her. She sighed in relief and sadness. Besides, no one would want to marry her anyway, not now. Regaining her composure, it was now or never. With her head held high she finally opened the door and made her entrance. All conversation came to a halt and all eyes turned to her.

She froze in the doorway, not prepared to se everyone who mattered looking back at her. The staring contest between her and the Order was broken when Sirius greeted her, as if nothing was wrong.

"Morning Mione. Breakfast?" He gestured to the spot between him and Ginny where her plate sat with a heating charm. She inwardly smiled at his nonchalance and thanked him for acting as though nothing was wrong.

"Um, no thanks. I'm not too hungry."

"But dear, you need to eat to keep up your strength. You're still healing. Have some juice, maybe some toast."

"Mrs. Weasley-" She tried to protest, but the woman was determined.

"No. Sit down and I'll get you something." This time a small smile escaped at the fact she was being treated normally by the matriarch. But, her smile was soon wiped off her face when Mrs. Weasley seemed to realize who she was ordering about and froze, slowly turning away from the icebox and back to her. "But if you're really not hungry dear, it's understandable."

"Molly-" Remus tried to interject, having seen the girls brief happiness at being forced to eat, but the red head didn't listen.

"No, if she doesn't want to eat she doesn't have to." Then she paused before instinct took back over. "But she does have to drink some juice." And drawing her wand there was now some orange juice in a glass by her plate. Hermione stayed in the doorway for another second before nodding sadly and making her way to her seat. On the way she could see all the pitying looks she was receiving, hell, even Snape tried to offer a smile though it definitely looked like it pained him to do so. She reached her seat between Sirius and Ginny and sat, only to spring back up again when a farting noise filled the room breaking the tense silence. There was a moment when everyone just stared before-

"Fred and George Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley screeched reprimanding the twins. While everyone shifted their attention to the pair of tricksters, Hermione looked down and saw on her seat a regular, muggle whoopee cushion.

"What? We just wanted to-"

"Make her smile."

"And look at that-"

"I think we've got a grin." Everyone whipped their heads around to see the rare sight and were greeted with Hermione, now snickering. She removed the whoopee cushion from her chair and sat down.

"New product I'm guessing? Won't you get in trouble for modifying muggle artifacts?" George's eyes gleamed, both at her acknowledgement of their store and the fact she was finally talking to them.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we are developing a _similar_ product, and no we won't get in trouble because that is just a plain muggle one."

"What modifications are you making?" She asked more interested in avoiding unpleasant topics and her new appreciation for the twins' talents. Fred grinned evilly.

"Well while we of course will sell the muggle version as a special commodity-"

"We're working on a prototype to make ones that amplify the sound,-"

"play other sounds like music or animal sounds,-"

"And a few that include smells." Hermione's nose turned up at the thought. She could just picture some nervous first year sitting down for breakfast and having an amplified farting noise, complete with smell resonate throughout the Great Hall. She quickly looked away and shoved a piece of bacon in her mouth to hide her smile from the two. What she didn't count on was a different Weasley who sat across from her catching her upturned lips and realizing the significance of her amusement.

"Well, well, well. From what I'd heard you seemed to be the type to disprove of the twins antics. Was that a smile I just saw? Do you find their new product funny?" Her head shot up and she came face to face with Charlie. Her eyes widened not expecting the elder Weasley to both A) have heard about her and B) actually wanting to talk to her. She swallowed and went to deny the claim, but Tonks answered first.

"Oh that's nothing. Apparently our Hermione here as a devious mind; excellent for revenge and pranks. It was definitely a surprise when she asked me to help her pull something on the Marauders here, and I have to say, she's got a knack from it. I'm surprised you two don't utilize her as a resource." The twins looked to each other in shock, as did a few of the adults, then turned and in unison grinned.

"Really!" Hermione suddenly found herself the center of attention, once again, but this time for a positive reason.

"What did she do?" Remus asked, confused. He'd certainly been pranked in the time she'd been staying with them, but he hadn't realized she'd contributed to their fun. His girlfriend grinned.

"Well-" she drew out, giving the brunette a chance to interrupt her.

"No! They don't need to know-"

"That was You!" Sirius' voice cut in with a tinge of awe.

"What was?" Remus asked again, but Sirius paid no attention to his friend and instead concentrated on the girl beside him.

"I can't believe…I'm so proud." And he quickly drew her into a tight hug. Hermione's eyes nearly popped out with the force of his embrace and the depths of his feelings. She later would swear she saw a tear.

"What? What did she do?" Being let go she quickly looked down not to meet anyone's gaze as Sirius revealed her prank.

"Well, we may have, er, touched her books-"

"You charmed them so they only read in Ancient Greek!" She protested, then blushed when she saw the amused looks she'd been getting.

"Right, anyway the next day passes fine, no problem. Then a week ago Hermione decides to be nice and cook us dinner. It was comfortable, good food. After she leaves to go take a bath. About a half hour after dinner it hit, all of a sudden we _really_ had to _go._ So Harry and I race for the bathroom downstairs, only to find it locked. We knock and hear Hermione telling us to use the other bathroom, she was bathing. So we go upstairs and Remus is standing outside the second floor bathroom having the same problem. Apparently she'd forgotten her shampoo and had apparated to the other bathroom. By now we're really in pain and so we run upstairs and the cycle continues. Finally ten minutes later she appears, all angelic and innocent so we don't suspect her and we can finally get in the bathroom. Only, she warns us the plumbing's gone wonky and unless one of us knows a few charms, if it was an emergency, which it was by now, we'd be better off going _outside_." By now Remus and Harry had recalled the incident and were staring at her in disbelief and awe. "Unfortunately the effects of whatever potion she slipped in lasted most of the night. I just can't believe…I'd just thought you couldn't cook." Hermione kept her head ducked.

"Never piss off the cook, or touch my books. Really Harry, I thought you'd have learned that lesson by now." She finally addressed the bespectacled boy. Next to him Ron shook his head.

"I always said you were scary. Bloody brilliant, but scary. And Harry; the books? Did you have a death wish?"

"Hey, it was Sirius' idea!" He tried to foster off the blame. Hermione grinned.

"Yes; and why do you think Sirius was up most of the night while you were fine by dark?" She finally looked up as she pointed this out, getting a glimpse of the varied faces around the table. There were a few who looked shocked, primarily the twins and the order members who didn't know her as well, but the majority, including her professors and most of the Weasleys looked amused and knowing. By her side Ginny grinned.

"How'd you do it?" she had a feeling her younger friend would be adding her prank to her list on ones to use on any brothers who pissed her off. Hermione shrugged nonchalantly.

"Muggle laxatives. I know that the guys all scan their food and drinks for potions and charms, but a muggle product wouldn't show up. I had Tonks get me some from the store and then I added it to their dinner."

"Bloody-"

"Brilliant-"

"Tell us-"

"More!" The twins were now looking at her in a new light, one she wasn't sure she wanted shined on her. But realizing that maybe a few laughs in life would do everyone good, she nodded.

"We can talk later." As the twins started a new discussion over what to ask her about, Hermione went back to her breakfast.

"You do realize what you've just done, right? I mean, you've put all our lives in danger." Her head shot up to face the voice who'd addressed her, one she only knew from pictures and stories. He seemed to realize how serious he'd come across and grinned to lighted the accusation. "Giving them more ideas, especially muggle ones. It's gonna be a lot harder to dodge their pranks now." Hermione seemed to realize he wasn't accusing her of anything too horrible and gave him a small smile. After all, the eldest Weasley was certainly an attractive man.

"Yes, you've doomed us all." Charlie chimed in from beside him. Hermione nodded.

"Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Then she started to turn to talk to Ginny.

"Um, I'm Bill, Bill Weasley. We've never been properly introduced I don't think." Hermione turned back to the pair, puzzled by the…desperation he had in his voice to keep talking to her?

"And I'm Charlie. We've, ah, heard a lot about you." Hermione looked around the table at the various suspects who could've told the two men about her, but there were too many possibilities.

"All good I hope." Bill grinned, a sight that made her stare for a second too long.

"Well, a little complaining from Ron, but the majority was all positive."

"Yes, well I've heard about you two also." Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Lemme guess, the horror stories about their evil older brothers?" He gestured toward their younger siblings. Hermione laughed.

"No, just random things here and there. Basic things like what you do for a living, a few stories from your time at Hogwarts, embarrassing childhood stories you'd be appalled your mother was freely telling." She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt comfortable enough to joke with the two even though they'd just met. Both boys proved they had the Weasley blush as their ears turned red.

"Um, what has she been telling you?" Bill asked, thankful she was willing to talk and joke with them, even if it was at their expense.

"Yes, what has dear ole' mum have to say?" Charlie asked, briefly looking to the door where Percy had just walked in. He felt his stomach sink as their younger brother gave Dumbledore a grim nod and sat down.

"Well I recall a nice story involving a messed up cheering charm that resulted in some public nudity, or maybe it was Charlie's first broom ride-" She could see the realization and embarrassment in their eyes as they recalled the incidents she spoke of, along with a bit of distractedness, but before she could continue getting to know them or question what had caught their attention she was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Everyone, everyone; if I could have your attention please? Thank you. While I realize that we've finally reached a stage of lightheartedness that has been absent for some time, I'm afraid recent events and news must take priority as a new issue has arisen that we must deal with right away. Most of you know what I speak of, and it breaks my heart to have to inform those that don't. Of those in this room there is not one who is not effected by the Ministry's latest decree, though some will obviously be effected more then most."

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Hermione could hear Ginny whisper. She shook her head in confusion.

"No, I haven't really been keeping up with recent events. What-?"

"Miss. Granger, I believe you and young Miss Weasley are the only ones who know not what I speak of." Sure enough looking around the room she saw knowing and sad looks suddenly turned in her direction. Sympathy and pity, mixed with anger on her behalf; it was a look she was familiar with lately. A knot suddenly appeared in her stomach as her mind recalled what she'd heard earlier through eavesdropping.

"_Poor girl, I don't think she can take much more."_

"_-there's nothing we can do now except protect her the best that we can."_

"_I would marry her in a heartbeat if I thought it would save her, but I'm pretty sure she'd prefer someone closer to her age."_

Protection? Marriage? The Ministry? What-No! She gasped. She suddenly remembered reading an old copy of _The Daily Prophet_ she'd managed to have smuggled into the Hospital Wing. Before she'd gotten caught with it, she'd briefly managed to read an article mentioning that a new law, a marriage law, was in the works. She'd been more distracted by who had proposed the law then the law itself and hadn't heard anything else on the matter, assuming the ministry had realized how awful the law was and forgotten about it.

"No-they can't do this. It's wrong, it's…barbaric. No!" She stood up in anger, her previous emotions all returning leaving her with an awful feeling in her stomach.

"Miss Granger, you obviously know what I speak of. It's true; Lucius Malfoy has succeeded in getting the Marriage Law passed using the fear of the rising rate of squib births and decrease in magical power with the newer generations.

"Marriage law? Hermione, what does this mean?" Ginny was completely confused, though she knew it wasn't anything good by the tears that had formed in her friends' eyes and the looks on the faces of those around her.

"It means, Ginny, that as a muggle born I am being _Forced_ into marriage with, with a pureblood. As a woman I have no real say over who can _claim_ me and once the petitions start arriving I have, what? A week? Two weeks to decide which _stranger_ I'm to be _auctioned off_ to? Then, and the ministry's being _gracious_ by letting me "choose" my future husband, I have a set time in which I must be married by, produce my first child by, and refusal to _cooperate_ with the law, or any actions on my part that may hurt the integrity of what they want to achieve with the law can result in my wand being snapped, a trip to Azkaban, or even exile into the muggle world after a nice memory charm." By now Hermione had made her way around the room, too angry to sit down and needing to pace as she gestured widely with her hands during her rant. Every eye in the room was upon her, watching her, and once again observing her pain at the recent events.

"Yes, that is unfortunately true. Muggle born woman aged 18 through 50 are required to choose a husband from the petitions they'll receive. While I was unable to completely prevent the law from being passed, I was able to petition the Wizgamont into making it a little easier on the effected witches. You will have 30 days in which to pick from the petitions you receive, and upon choosing you'll have two weeks in which to marry. Since wizarding marriages are for life, you won't have to worry about producing a child for a month after you're married in order to get used to your new husband. Unfortunately that was all I was able to do, and dear child, I am so sorry that this has happened." Dumbledore clarified.

Looking into the elder wizard's eyes she could see the sincerity in his words; he didn't like this anymore then she did, but it was still happening, she was still being forced into…marriage and relations with someone she most likely didn't know. Any fleeting thought she'd had about love and marriage and prince charming was swept away in an instant. She had no choice barring snapping her wand and reentering the muggle world permanently. Had her parent's been alive she would've considered that option, but now…now the people here in her room were her family and she had no further choice but to accept it and hope the Ministry would realize it's mistakes before it was too late.

"Okay." She suddenly sat down in the closest chair, between Percy and Bill, resigned to her fate and too tired to fight. "When does the law go into effect?" She addressed her question to the redhead on her right, having a feeling he'd know more about the going-ons at the ministry then his elder brother. Percy sighed and took a look at his watch.

"About now." Sure enough to correlate with his answer there was a barrage of owls tapping on the kitchen window. A nod from Dumbledore had Molly opening it to let them in. One by one they made their way to Hermione, dropping their letters onto the table in front of her. She counted 10 before she became too overwhelmed. Finally the letters stopped, but not before the last mail carrier, a prominent eagle dropped the last petition on her plate. It was with shaking hands that she reached out and took the parchment, which was thicker then the others and gave off a bad vibe. She knew deep in her gut who it was from, what it contained; but that didn't stop the shock and horror she felt as she opened and read the words inside.

_I Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, on behalf of my son Draco Lucius Malfoy, petition the Ministry for the hand of one Hermione Jane Granger in marriage…_

She only managed to read those words before dropping the letter in shock. Her face paled, the room swam, and then there was only darkness.

Bill managed to catch her as she passed out before she fell off the chair. Sharing a look with Percy, the younger of the two picked up the letter, began to read, and swore.

"Bloody hell, it's as we feared." He looked up and faced the shocked stares from the rest of the room. "The bastard petitioned for her hand." Instantly a shockwave went around the room. It was much like the night before, but now the situation was real.

"What are we going to do? We can't let him have her!" Harry argued, his voice the loudest among the group. The answer to his question came from a surprising source: Ginny.

"What ever we have to."

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Author's Note: Sorry Guys! You have no idea how unbelievably sorry I am. I really hadn't planned on it taking this long to get out this chapter, but college isn't all playing Frisbee and reading under trees. Apparently I'm paying thousands of dollars to actually have to do more homework and because of that, it had to come first. I'm still in college, I just started my second year, but I'm intending to be a lot more organized and proactive so I won't be leaving you hanging again with any luck. I also have a plan to finish this story as soon as possible because, frankly, I don't like making you guys wait for updates as much as you hate waiting for updates. Just bare with me, I'm doing my best. In good news you all seem to really enjoy this story despite the long wait and I've recently rediscovered my passion for it also, which also leads to more frequent updates. Yay! Please, keep reviewing, especially if I do end up making you wait a bit. Getting a reminder that people are still reading and waiting for the next chapter is definitely an incentive, so keep it up. I hope you enjoyed this one and I promise that we're soon getting into the lighter side of things and some more Weasley action. Stay tuned!

Toodles,

jessebelle


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